Janine Warner

Executive Director and Co-founder, SembraMedia

Janine Warner is a journalist, author and digital media leader focused on the intersection of journalism, technology and media sustainability. As the co-founder and executive director of SembraMedia, she leads an international team dedicated to helping digital media entrepreneurs build sustainability, editorial independence and impact.

SembraMedia conducts research and provides business and technical training, market intelligence, networking opportunities, consulting and financial support, primarily in Latin America, Spain and the U.S. SembraMedia also leads the global research initiative, Project Oasis.

Janine’s professional journey includes serving as the director of New Media for The Miami Herald at the turn of the last century (1998-2001), and as an ICFJ Knight Fellow (2016-2021), where she focused on helping journalists and media leaders build independent, sustainable news organizations in Latin America.

A frequent keynote speaker, Janine has shared her insights at major international conferences and universities around the world. She is recognized for her ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies. Her work is driven by the belief that independent media is essential to democracy and that financial independence is the key to editorial integrity.

Janine studied journalism and Spanish at UMass, Amherst, and started her career at the Pulitzer-prize winning Point Reyes Light. Her first startup was a nonprofit, bilingual newspaper she launched in Spanish and English in Northern California in the early 90s. She is fluent in Spanish, conversational in Portañol and she plays well with translators.